Abby the Black Lab
Emergent
Literacy Design
Rationale: At the end of this
lesson, students will connect with the phoneme a=/a/ through previous
experiences, relate to the phoneme a=/a/ through memorable examples,
hear the
phoneme a=/a/ in alliterations, see how the phoneme a=/a/ is part of
many
words, and practice identifying the phoneme a=/a/.
Phoneme practice important because students
must “demonstrate an initial understanding of letter-sound
relationships
through understanding the letter-sound correspondence” (Alabama Course
of
Study, Kindergarten, Language Arts, Objective#6) in order to become
phonemically aware. Students must become phonemically aware so they can
become
a beginning reader. This lesson will
provide meaningful and relevant instruction and practice of the phoneme
a=/a/.
Materials: Primary
paper and pencil;
chart with the letter a and “Abby the
black lab dashed at the fat cat”; word strips for each pair of students
bad,
good, dad, mom, van, truck, pan, bowl, bat, glove, rat, mouse, cat,
dog, black,
brown; a popsicle stick for each student; and the text In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise
Fleming.
Procedure
:
1. Begin the lesson by explaining all words are made up of spoken
sounds that we
write down with letters and read by figuring out how the letters make
up words. Today we’re going to be
scientists and
investigate how the letter a makes
the sound /a/. Let’s all say /a/. Say it
again and notice how your mouth moves when you say it.
Now watch me say it. Can you see
how my mouth moves when I say
/a/?
2. Ask the students to say /a/. This is the sound that the letter a
makes
(point to the letter a written on the chart).
Can you think of any words that have the /a/ sound? Teacher
writes down
responses on the chart, if none are given she gives examples of
children’s
names or objects found in the classroom.
I’m going to say some words and
when you hear the /a/ sound say /a/ and notice how your mouth is moving. Do you hear /a/in bad or good, dad or mom,
van or truck, pan or bowl, bat or glove, rat or mouse, cat or dog,
black or
brown (teacher holds up the card with the corresponding word).
3. When I look for the /a/ sound
or any other
sounds in words, I always stretch out each sound so that I can hear it. I’m going to look for the /a/ sound in the
word Abby. Let’s see, AAAAA bbbbb
eeeeee. Yep, it’s there, AAAAAA Abby—the
first sound. Let’s all look for the /a/
sound in the word black. Hmmmm, /b/ /l/
/a/ /k/.
Did you hear it? What about in dog? /d/
/o/
/g/? Nope I don’t hear it in dog.
4. Let’s
try a tongue twister [on chart]. Teacher models stretching out the
vowel sound,
“Aaaaaabby the blaaaaack laaaaab daaaashed aaaat the faaaat caaaaat”. Now, everyone say it together. Make sure you
stretch out the /a/ when you hear it in the word: “Aaaaaabby the
blaaaaack
laaaaab daaaashed aaaat the faaaat caaaaat”. Try
it again and when you hear the /a/ sound,
turn to your neighbor and show them how you make the /a/ sound.
5. Students take out Primary paper and
pencil. We can use the letter a to
spell /a/. Let’s write it. Start under the fence. Go up and touch the
fence,
then around and touch the sidewalk, around and straight down. I want to
hear everyone
say /a/. Walk around and check papers.
6. Read In the Tall, Tall Grass aloud and discuss the story.
Re-read and
have the students clap when they hear words with /a/. List their words
on the chart.
7. Students will be assessed on their accuracy of identifying words
with /a/
sound by playing “Slap It”. Students
will work in pairs and go through the word cards; when they come to a
word with
the /a/ sound, they will “Slap It” with their Popsicle stick.
References:
Fleming,
Denise (1991). In the
tall, tall grass.
Murray, Bruce. Phoneme
Awareness. The